One of the German capital’s central squares has become the stage for a provocative art piece, which not only celebrates whistleblowers, but encourages other ordinary citizens to speak out.

“They have lost
their freedom for the truth, so they remind us how important it
is to know the truth,” Italian sculptor Davide Dormino told
the media in Berlin's Alexanderplatz.

The life-sized statues of the three whistleblowersstand upon three chairs, as if
speaking in an impromptu public meeting. Next to them is a
fourth, empty chair.

For Dormino, who titled his piece, Anything to Say? this
is the centerpiece of the composition.

“The fourth chair is open to anyone here in Berlin who wants
to get up and say anything they want,” he told Deutsche
Welle.

Dozens of people, including children, have already overcome their
fears, and stood up on the platform, some with a loudspeaker.

"People are saying many different things. From politics to
babbling to silence, from people who desperately are wanting to
help Julian, Bradley and Edward to people who have no idea who
they are. This chair is, I guess, a place of free speech,"
said Dormino.

Bradley Manning, who leaked US diplomatic cables in 2011, is
serving a 35-year sentence in a military prison. Manning has
since changed her gender to female, and is now known as Chelsea.
However, she is presented in her former guise as a male US
soldier in the composition. Julian Assange, who hosted Manning’s
files on his Wikileaks website, remains in the Ecuadorian embassy
in London, aware that leaving it may leave him exposed to
extradition to the US. Former intelligence agent Edward Snowden,
who revealed the intricacies and reach of NSA surveillance
technologies, has been marooned in an undisclosed location in
Russia for nearly two years.

Dormino, who came up with the idea together with the US
journalist Charles Glass, specifically chose a classical bronze
statue for his depiction – and not an installation or abstract
piece – since statues are usually made of establishment figures.
For the Rome-based artist, this is an injustice – while men who
order others to their deaths get immortalized, those who resist
are often forgotten, so “the statue pays homage to three who said
no to war, to the lies that lead to war and to the intrusion into
private life that helps to perpetuate war.”

Dormino says he will now tour the world’s most prominent public
places with his exhibit, recording the opinions or ordinary
citizens across the globe. One place he may not be welcome is the
US: an unapproved bust of Snowden, placed in a New York park last
month, was removed within hours.